Game 50 - Leafs 5, Montreal 3 - Leafs hold on to beat Canadiens in regulation

Regulation victories have not come often for the Leafs, but they got a satisfying one on Saturday, fighting off the Montreal Canadiens. While the game did feature a strong push by Montreal to level it late, the Leafs were much more competitive in chances they managed to be against Boston.

Toronto took an early lead, Kadri showing some sublime skill to set up Franson, and while they carried the play for the better part of the first, a late powerplay for the Habs allowed them to get level before the end of the period. The second was a definite 'period of two halves', as there were no chances in the first 6 minutes, and 11 minutes in, Montreal led the chances 3-0. After that, Toronto started pressing much harder, rewarded when Kessel scored from Raymond, and Raymond then adding a third himself on the powerplay.

Montreal scored what could have been a critical goal right at the end of the second, but Toronto's response was solid, killing off an early Montreal penalty, and keeping the Habs mostly under control, until Desharnais managed to tie the game midway through the frame on an shot that took a couple of deflections on the way in. The Leafs then answered quickly, generating the next four chances, including the winning goal through Van Riemsdyk. Montreal came up with five chances in the last five minutes, but Jonathan Bernier stood strong to earn the win for his team.

Toronto were narrowly outchanced in the game, 16-13 5-on-5, but much of that came while the Habs chased the game, as the Leafs won 5-on-5 close 13-6.

A summary of the scoring chances:

Status	Overall		ES
Team	Toronto	Montreal	Toronto	Montreal
1	4	4	3	2
2	8	7	6	7
3	4	9	4	7
Total	16	20	13	16

Details below.


This was my list of scoring chances from the game. If you see any problems or omissions (here or anywhere else), please go ahead and leave a comment.

Club	St	P	Time	Note	Toronto						Montreal
TOR	ES	1	16:30	Kessel wide from Bozak	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	81	11	26	76	31
TOR	ES	1	15:11	GOAL! Franson from Kadri	43	19	40	4	51	45	14	81	21	55	74	31
MTL	ES	1	12:08	Gionta wide from loose puck	43	19	41	4	8	45	14	81	21	74	79	31
MTL	ES	1	10:35	Briere from Gallagher	24	40	12	44	51	45	48	11	49	74	79	31
TOR	PP	1	06:44	Raymond fom Lupul	43	19	12	44	51	45	8	67	74	79	31	-
TOR	ES	1	04:41	Van Riemsdyk wide from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	67	74	79	31
MTL	SH	1	03:02	Pacioretty from Markov	11	42	3	51	45	-	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	SH	1	02:31	GOAL! Gallagher from loose puck	11	42	3	51	45	-	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	ES	2	13:15	Eller from Subban	43	19	41	4	8	45	81	8	32	76	79	31
MTL	ES	2	12:52	Eller drives	24	40	12	44	51	45	81	8	49	55	79	31
MTL	ES	2	12:51	Prust from rebound of Eller shot	24	40	12	44	51	45	81	8	49	55	79	31
TOR	ES	2	08:54	Kessel from Van Riemsdyk	42	81	21	8	36	45	14	81	21	40	74	31
TOR	ES	2	06:49	GOAL! Kessel from Raymond	24	81	12	3	36	45	81	15	67	26	76	31
MTL	ES	2	05:46	Gallagher from Desharnais	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	67	26	76	31
TOR	ES	2	05:33	Van Riemsdyk drives	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	32	26	76	31
TOR	ES	2	05:27	Kadri from Lupul	43	19	41	4	8	45	14	81	21	74	79	31
TOR	ES	2	05:26	Kulemin wide from rebound of Kadri shot	43	19	41	4	8	45	14	81	21	74	79	31
TOR	ES	2	03:23	Van Riemsdyk wraparound	24	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
TOR	PP	2	02:22	Kadri deflects Gardiner shot	43	19	12	44	51	45	14	32	26	76	31	-
TOR	PP	2	02:13	GOAL! Raymond from Kadri	43	19	12	44	51	45	14	32	26	76	31	-
MTL	ES	2	01:19	Van Riemsdyk from Bozak	42	81	21	3	4	45	51	11	67	55	79	31
MTL	ES	2	01:01	Briere from Gionta	42	40	21	4	8	45	48	51	21	55	79	31
MTL	ES	2	00:12	GOAL! Gionta from loose puck	42	81	21	3	4	45	14	48	21	55	79	31
MTL	ES	3	18:04	Desharnais drives	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	SH	3	17:19	Markov from Subban	11	41	3	36	45	-	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	SH	3	15:41	Markov wide from Subban	11	41	4	8	45	-	14	48	21	76	79	31
MTL	ES	3	10:54	GOAL! Desharnais deflects Subban shot	11	42	81	3	36	45	51	11	67	40	76	31
TOR	ES	3	08:50	Van Riemsdyk from loose puck	42	81	21	3	36	45	14	21	32	40	55	31
TOR	ES	3	08:39	Bozak from Kessel	42	81	21	3	36	45	14	21	32	40	55	31
TOR	ES	3	08:02	Bozak from Gunnarsson	42	21	41	3	36	45	14	11	67	74	79	31
TOR	ES	3	05:33	GOAL! Van Riemsdyk from Bozak	42	81	21	3	51	45	51	11	67	74	79	31
MTL	ES	3	04:16	Pacioretty from Desharnais	42	81	21	3	36	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	ES	3	03:38	Gallagher from Pacioretty	42	81	21	44	51	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	ES	3	03:31	Gallagher wide from rebound	42	81	21	44	51	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	ES	3	01:37	Markov from Subban	11	42	81	3	36	45	51	11	67	76	79	31
MTL	ES	3	01:30	Markov wide from Subban	11	42	81	3	36	45	51	11	67	76	79	31

The Extra Skater game profile.

The Leafs lost overall Corsi, 53-67,as well as 5-on-5, 45-50, but won 5-on-5 close, 42-33.

The scoring chance numbers for the Leaf players:
 

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD
Phaneuf	9	11	-2	25:55	9	8	1	21:46	0	0	0	00:54	0	3	-3
Franson	3	6	-3	19:42	3	5	-2	17:09	0	0	0	01:03	0	1	-1
Gleason	3	4	-1	21:30	3	3	0	18:56	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1
Mcclement	0	7	-7	12:09	0	3	-3	07:53	0	0	0	00:00	0	4	-4
Raymond	4	3	1	14:35	1	3	-2	11:24	3	0	3	01:33	0	0	0
Lupul	6	2	4	20:55	3	2	1	19:22	3	0	3	01:33	0	0	0
Van riemsdyk	9	8	1	18:56	9	8	1	16:29	0	0	0	00:54	0	0	0
Holland	2	3	-1	11:50	2	3	-1	11:50	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Orr	0	0	0	02:55	0	0	0	02:55	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Gunnarsson	9	7	2	20:40	9	6	3	18:37	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1
Ashton	0	0	0	02:28	0	0	0	02:28	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Bodie	1	4	-3	06:46	1	4	-3	06:46	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Kulemin	3	4	-1	22:20	3	2	1	19:21	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2
Bozak	8	13	-5	19:08	8	11	-3	17:02	0	0	0	00:54	0	2	-2
Kadri	6	2	4	19:54	3	2	1	18:21	3	0	3	01:33	0	0	0
Rielly	3	5	-2	14:33	0	5	-5	13:00	3	0	3	01:33	0	0	0
Gardiner	5	7	-2	17:46	2	5	-3	14:06	3	0	3	01:24	0	2	-2
Kessel	9	10	-1	20:09	9	10	-1	19:15	0	0	0	00:54	0	0	0
Bernier	16	20	-4	60:00	13	16	-3	51:44	3	0	3	02:27	0	4	-4

The big line did not have good numbers, mostly because they took a lot of the heat when Toronto was leading, as their close numbers are good. While they were able to generate a lot of chances, their inability to shut opponents down definitely contributes to the Leafs difficulty holding leads. Kadri really played well, making a great play, and allowing just 2 chances against in 18 ES minutes. The fourth line really struggled, as McClement was a -3, as was Bodie.

Another good game for Gunnarsson, easily the best on the back end at +3, while the young guns struggled, Rielly -5 and Gardiner -3.

The Canadiens:

Player	F	A	D	TOI	ESF	ESA	ESD	EVTOI	PPF	PPA	PPD	PPTOI	SHF	SHA	SHD
Prust	3	1	2	14:04	3	0	3	12:51	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1
Gallagher	13	6	7	17:48	10	6	4	14:43	3	0	3	03:05	0	0	0
Plekanec	3	9	-6	23:38	2	7	-5	19:31	1	0	1	02:53	0	2	-2
Parros	0	1	-1	03:00	0	1	-1	03:00	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Gionta	4	6	-2	21:41	3	6	-3	18:57	1	0	1	02:44	0	0	0
Gorges	1	5	-4	19:50	1	3	-2	18:48	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2
Nattinen	0	0	0	01:45	0	0	0	01:45	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Moen	1	5	-4	06:48	1	3	-2	05:46	0	0	0	00:00	0	2	-2
Beaulieu	1	3	-2	13:36	1	3	-2	12:59	0	0	0	00:37	0	0	0
Briere	4	0	4	16:24	3	0	3	14:09	1	0	1	02:15	0	0	0
Bournival	3	0	3	12:26	3	0	3	11:34	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Desharnais	13	5	8	19:58	10	5	5	17:02	3	0	3	02:56	0	0	0
Bouillon	5	3	2	11:04	5	3	2	11:04	0	0	0	00:00	0	0	0
Pacioretty	12	6	6	21:26	9	5	4	17:48	3	0	3	03:05	0	1	-1
Emelin	2	8	-6	17:26	2	7	-5	16:21	0	0	0	00:00	0	1	-1
Subban	13	6	7	30:33	9	4	5	23:22	4	0	4	05:49	0	2	-2
Markov	18	7	11	27:50	14	6	8	21:13	4	0	4	05:12	0	1	-1
Eller	4	6	-2	17:33	4	6	-2	17:04	0	0	0	00:29	0	0	0
Price	20	16	4	58:43	16	13	3	50:27	4	0	4	05:49	0	3	-3

A mindblowing performance from Markov, who was on ice for 14 of the Canadiens' 16 ES chances, and was a huge +8. Subban was also solid, at +5, while Desharnais was the best of the forwards, on for 10 ES chances for. Plekanec did not do much, and was a -5, along with Emelin.

Players with nice chance numbers:
Toronto - Carl Gunnarsson, James Van Riemsdyk, Nikolai Kulemin
Montreal - Andrei Markov, David Desharnais, P.K. Subban

Players with poor chance numbers:
Toronto - Morgan Rielly, Troy Bodie, Jay McClement
Montreal - Tomas Plekanec, Alexei Emelin, Brian Gionta